Chinanews, Beijing, Aug 28 – According to the lunar calendar, yesterday (August 27) was the traditional Zhongyuan Festival, also called the ghost festival. According to the folk traditions in Beijing, on this day people should burn funerary banknotes for use by the deceased in the netherworld or release a candle-lit paper boat into the river as a way to commemorate the dead.In Beijing, Houhai is always regarded as “a piece of precious land” according to Chinese tradition. On Monday, many people came to Houhai to burn funerary notes when night fell. Among them, a middle-aged woman burned a pile of such notes at a crossroads in Houhai. The notes released some smoke when being burned. Seeing that the fire had burned out, she left the scene. The ashes behind her were soon blown away by wind. In fact, the same scene could be seen again and again these days. A street cleaner told this reporter that they had had to clear away a large amount of paper ashes by the riverside.Burning funerary notes will lead to several bad consequences: it pollutes the environment and will easily start a fire. In addition, the paper ashes will also make the road dirty. Considering this, just before this traditional festival arrived, Beijing municipal government had warned local residents to try their best not to pollute the environment when they burned funerary notes.Some people think that China should keep its tradition of burning such notes to commemorate the dead. According to them, it is a very important activity in the ghost festival. It’s a typical Chinese way to commemorate the dead. Although some people suggest that China might also use flowers to commemorate the dead as Westerners do, for, to these people, placing flowers in front of the graveyard is a tradition observed in the West. It’s not a typical way for the Chinese to express their feelings. As to the problem that burning notes might easily start a fire, Mr. Zhao, a person working in a state-owned company in Beijing, said such risks could be easily avoided. He said the government could designate a certain area for notes burning.Holding a ceremony in memory of the dead is a kind of tradition. With the progress of the economy and society, many people have developed an even stronger nostalgic sentiment. They want to remember their past, and things and people related with their past experiences, said Xia Xueluan, a sociologist at Peking University.Beijing municipal government is devoting great efforts to preserving Chinese traditions and customs. It wants to enact some regulations to encourage more people to respect traditions and to raise the social position of old customs. Local government hopes that while observing traditional customs, Chinese people can also observe them in a more environmental-friendly way.